The Rise and Demise of DRock: Fact or Fiction
by jeytonlover
Summary: June Flashfic for December. There's a great deal of speculation as to what really happened, but all roads seem to lead to one girl.


**Flashfic for December. The prompt will be listed at the bottom.**

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The young man sat down by his fiancé and groaned when he looked at the television screen. "Tell me you're kidding Lexie, this isn't how we're going to spend our evening is it?" he asked.

"Of course this is what we're watching," she told him with a perplexing look. "Why wouldn't we want to watch this?"

"Oh I don't know, maybe because it's ridiculous and stupid?"

The girl rolled her eyes and shook her head. "You're so bull headed sometimes. Think about it Evan, how many people have part of their dads' lives recorded for posterity. I'm taping this too. Someday we'll have it to show our children," she said with excitement.

He looked over at her with a look he knew she could tell was one that was to let her know that he was more than a little put off. "Alright, we'll watch it. But I'm going on record right know saying how stupid it's going to be. They didn't even interview them for God's sake. I absolutely hate it when they get someone's cousin's best friend's boyfriend's uncle to go on as a source close the group. If I have to watch it, then I have full right to dog it and add my own commentary. You're recording it, so if you don't want my play by play with it, then you can watch it again later. Take it or leave. Is it a deal?"

She reached over and kissed his lips lightly before grinning, "Deal. Now be quiet, it's starting."

"_Music history is full of one disk wonders. Bands that made it huge, lived large and then faded away without notice. The band we're covering tonight might not be considered one disk wonders, because there is a twist, their story is different. While most bands can just never find the right follow up song, this band could never achieve the perfect balance when new chemistry was forced upon them."_

"_It has always been rumored that a woman was behind the break up. Much like Yoko Ono and the Beatles, it's rumored that a woman caused the problems and the ultimate demise of D-Rock."_

"Okay, I've already had enough. I'm not sitting here and watching them demonize my mom. You can watch if you want, but I'm out of here," he said as he moved to get up.

Lexie grabbed hold of his hand and pulled him back down. "Stop it. I've already given you griping privileges, now watch."

"_But unlike Yoko, the woman behind the break up, Casey McDonald has the distinct privilege of dating all three band member at one point or another. But we don't want to get too far ahead in the story, so let's begin at the beginning."_

"_D-Rock was formed in London, Ontario, Canada by three boys who had been friends since grammar school. Sam Shepherd, Ralph Rippel and Derek Venturi had started playing on a whim, each kind of choosing an instrument and learning to play it. By grade ten, they were playing birthday parties and had quite a following among the young girls. By this point Derek's father had remarried and this is how Casey McDonald came into the group's life, by becoming Derek's step-sister."_

"Oh, the shame and scandal of it all," Evan said sarcastically.

"Ssh," Lexie admonished. "I want to hear this."

"_Casey soon became ensconced in the group by becoming Sam's girlfriend. It was said that Derek came to blows with Sam over the situation, but only the parties involved know for sure."_

"_No matter what the scenario, it's known that Sam and Casey didn't last long for some reason, but Casey was still an ever present figure around the young fledgling band. She even sang with them at a talent show that they lost to Sheldon Schlepper, who for a short time sang lead for them in high school, before moving to Newfoundland."_

At this point they showed footage of the talent show, evidently shot from someone's telephone or video camera. In it, they saw Casey back up to Derek and dance rather provocatively against him.

Lexie turned to Evan and grinned, "Ooh, Casey's got her grove going on and Derek doesn't look like he minds it one bit."

"Shut up."

"_Things kind of went much the same for the group throughout the rest of grades ten and eleven and even most of grade twelve. The only difference being that Casey had moved onto Ralph at the beginning of grade twelve and once again it was rumored that Derek wasn't happy at all. People at the school had speculated for years about the true nature of Casey and Derek's relationship."_

The scene switched to a balding fat guy sitting in a chair.

"_My name's Ryan and_ _I went to school with the band and Casey. There was always this weird vibe between them. Derek happened to be the captain of the hockey team and Casey was dating the captain of the football team, Max. This was in between her time as a D-Rock groupie. I mean come on, all three of them? I always knew she was a little twisted. Anyway, Casey dated Max and had this no Derek talk philosophy that he always had to remind her about. She even threatened to beat me up if I touched Derek. Everyone knew how obsessed she was with him, even then."_

The scene switched to a woman with bleached blonde hair, in her mid to late forties.

"_Hello, my name's Amy. Casey and I were cheerleaders together and I even went out with Derek for a short time. Looking back on it now, I think the only reason he dated me was because she was dating my ex-boyfriend Max and Derek knew how much we didn't like each other. All Derek did was talk about Casey, and he even had the nerve to defend her to me when I was mad at her. Needless to say, we didn't last long."_

Evan once again looked over at Lexie and began to say something, but she put her finger to his lips to quiet him.

"_D-Rock was asked to play the winter formal that year and as fate would have it, they happened to be seen by the right person at the right time. By this time, Casey had broken up with Noel Covington and Derek had ended a relationship with Sally Johnson. Casey was now in a relationship with Ralph and it was seen as totally random by those that knew them. There is speculation now, that Casey did it as an ultimatum to Derek, but once again, only the directly involved parties know for sure."_

"Lex, come on, listen to what they're saying. My mom said that she really did liked Ralph. That he was really funny and she loved being around him. She didn't use him. It's just that she…"

"Evan, be quiet, they're getting to the good part."

"_One of the chaperones at the dance happened to be a record exec and saw how the crowd went crazy over the boys. Soon he was talking to them and before they knew it, they were signed to a record deal and life would change forever."_

"_They graduated high school that May and were off on a tour of small clubs and venues, trying to gain an audience, and it didn't take them long. Their popularity grew fast and before long, they had made their first music video and instead of opening for bands, they were the feature band."_

"_Their lives became open books and everyone wanted the story behind the guys. Sam and Ralph were popular, but it was Derek who everyone craved information on. Soon, he was tabloid fodder and the Casey rumors started up again. Casey and Ralph had broken up by this point, realizing that a long distance relationship wouldn't work. But soon Casey was back to being associated with the band, but this time it was as Derek's secret obsession."_

"_It all started innocently enough in an interview that Derek gave. For some time it was noticed that Derek was never seen without a certain necklace on. It was discovered that he had worn in through part of grade ten and had proceeded to wear it every day since. Soon they were mass producing the necklace and it was one of the hottest fashion accessories for men, their girlfriends buying them like crazy."_

"_When Derek was ever asked about the necklace, he would always just say that it was a gift he had received for Christmas back in grade ten. Everyone thought the necklace must hold some type of meaning and it was finally discovered that Casey had actually given him the necklace for Christmas that year. It was also learned that he had reciprocated and bought her a purple butterfly necklace that she was known to wear all the time."_

"_Soon the rumors were flying about a secret relationship that had been going on all along between the step-siblings."_

"That's total bull crap! How can they even call this journalism," Evan half yelled.

"_While D-Rock was out on the road, Casey was at university studying pre-law. But soon, she had no privacy at all. Reporters were hounding her twenty-four seven about her relationship with the band and especially the lead singer, Derek. It got to the point where she couldn't handle it and after one semester at university, Casey packed up and went back home to London. And here is where the beginning of the end began."_

"God, could they be any more melodramatic?" Evan asked as he ran his hands through his hair in frustration.

"_D-Rock hadn't been able to come home for Christmas, but after playing a New Year's Eve show in New York City, they were finally headed home to London for the first time since graduation. This is where the speculation comes in, because not much is known after this."_

"_Sources close to the situation…"_

"Here we go," Evan snorted.

"…_say that when Derek found out the true nature of how bad it was for Casey he went ballistic. It's known that Derek is an act now, think later kind of guy…"_

"Hmm," Lexie said looking over at Evan, "looks like the apple didn't fall too far from the tree."

"…_and he reacted very badly to Casey's situation. He called a press conference and threatened legal action on anyone who breathed Casey's name in the press again. Of course this only fueled the flames and made the whole forbidden, taboo story that much more intriguing. Derek was coming to Casey's defense and that just enticed everyone more."_

"_Soon there were stories everywhere, with people only too happy to give their interpretation of things that they had seen transpire between Derek and Casey during school."_

"_Hi, my name's Teddy," said a man who had a distinct weasel look to him. "I was one of Edwin Venturi's friends in school. One time, Edwin invited me over because Derek and Casey were babysitting and were doing a very sucky job of it. Anyway, Casey was gone when I got there, but man," he said with a laugh, "we really got one over on Derek. Anyway, he finally got a hold of Casey and when she came rushing in she was all like, 'Derek, what have you done to the children', it was like they were some old married couple or something. Those two always had a strange dynamic to their relationship."_

_Next they cut to two men sitting side by side. "Hello, my name is Nathan and this is my brother Nick. When we were younger we were friends with Marti Venturi and actually went to summer day camp with her. Casey was our counselor."_

"_Yeah, a very lame counselor," Nick interjected. "But then Derek showed up to help and it was great. But you could always sense this underlying something between Derek and Casey. Kind of like a love/hate relationship."_

"_But there was this one time," Nathan interrupted, "when Derek had set up an obstacle course and it was a blast. He wanted Casey to do it and she didn't really want to, but he threw this hoola-hoop around her and drew her to him. Even though we were only eight at the time, you could just feel the sexual charge. Dude had a thing for her even then."_

_The television cut away from the brothers and the announcer went on. "Stories like this continued to be leaked to the press and it all became too much. Soon Derek was calling a press conference saying that he was officially leaving the group to concentrate on other interests. Speculation ran high that that interest had everything to do with his interest in Casey McDonald."_

"_It was also announced that D-Rock would continue on with a new front man. Sheldon Schlepper was tracked down and was more than happy to join his former band mates. D-Rock toured for fifteen more years with marginal success, before finally calling it quits."_

_  
"Ralph Rippel now works as a record producer for a major label. Sam Shepherd invested his money wisely and spends most of his time doing philanthropic work. He is married to television personality Kendra Caudle and they have one daughter Alexis. Sheldon was reunited with his high school sweetheart, Emily Davis, and they now live in Newfoundland with two children, John and Deana and Sheldon is now a song writer."_

"_And that brings us to Derek Venturi. Derek and Casey both attended university the next fall and it came as no surprise to anyone that they soon became inseparable. Derek and Casey graduated from university and Derek took a job as a hockey coach while Casey finished her law degree. After marrying, they then returned to London where Derek took over as coach at his alma mater, Thompson High School, while Casey joined her step-father/father-in-law's firm. They went onto to have one son, Evan Michael Venturi."_

_A picture of the family was flashed across the screen._

"Oh my gosh," Lexie hollered excitedly. "There you are Evan, you're on VH1."

"Woo hoo," he said sarcastically, "I can die a happy man."

"_Derek never did perform with D-Rock again. Some claimed that he has vowed never to perform with them again because of all the trouble it caused for himself and Casey. People in the business still speculate what could have happened with the group, had Casey McDonald never been in the picture."_

"Okay, that's it," Evan said as he grabbed the remote and flipped off the TV. "I've had enough. Those people have no idea what they're talking about."

"Come on Evan," Lexie pushed, "you have to admit that most of what they said was true, we both know it. They might not have presented it in the best light but still, there was a grain of truth to all of it."

"Oh yeah, I can think of one lie right off the bat."

"And what's that," she said as she pulled him over to her by sticking her finger through the silver circle of the leather necklace he wore around his neck. It was a gift his father had given him on his sixteenth birthday, saying that he hoped it brought him as much happiness as it had him.

"My dad never said he wouldn't play with D-Rock again. In fact," he said with a smile as he pulled her close, "my dad talked to your dad and then he talked to Ralph and if you want, we have D-Rock as our band at the wedding. Our song is their's anyway. What could be better than having the originals play it for us as we dance for the first time as husband and wife?"

"You really asked your dad for me?" she asked excitedly. "I kind of half mentioned it to my dad jokingly and he just blew me off. I don't think he thought Derek would do it."

"Come on, you know my dad, there are two people he can't say no too, my mom and me. So, do I call and tell him they're booked?"

Lexie threw her arms around Evan and kissed him soundly before pulling away. "Tell him that they're definitely booked."

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**Prompt 2: ****In "Derek Undone" we got to see a George in the Jungle reunion. So, fast forward 30 years into the future and give us the D-Rock reunion. You can decide whether or not D-Rock ever became anything beyond a high school garage band**


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